Slide fastener



Nov. 16, 1954 F. ULRICH 2,694,243

SLIDE FASTENER Filed Jan. 19, 1951 2 Sheds-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR. FRgDEmcx ULRlCH H IS ATTORNEYS United States Patent SLIDE. FASTENER.

Frederick Ulrich, Jersey City, N. J., assignorto Conmar Products Corporation, Newark, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application January 19, 1951, Serial No. 206,746 8 Claims. (Cl. 24205.14)

This invention relates to sliders for slide fasteners, and more particularly, to improved means for manually operating such sliders.

There are certain slide fastener applications, such as for corsets or girdles, where the common variety of pivoted or pendant type: of pull device is. undesirable. The pendant pull device comes. into contact with the skin, and being made of metal, is cold and uncomfortable to the wearer. With a fastener of the type disclosed. in the patent application of Albert Bashover, Serial No. 59,330, filed November 10,. 1948, which is being extensively used in girdles and corsets, the bottom slider is inverted, and when in its. lowermost position, a'pendant pull device extends extra far below the body of the slider, where it comes into contact with the skin of the user.

The primary object of the present invention is to overcome the foregoing difficulty, and to provide a slider with novel means for manually moving the slider, which means is so formed that it does not extend any appreciable distance beyond the slider body, and thus does not come into contact with the person of the user. Preferably, the means for manually imparting movement to the slider is so made that it is substantially co-extensive with the adjoining wing of the slider body upon which it is mounted. The means for manually operating the slider is so secured on the slider body that it is held at all times in .a substantially flat condition, and cannot dangle loosely. To impart movement to the slider, the side edges of the said operating means are grasped between the fingers and. moved in a direction parallel to the desired movement of the slider.

Another object of the present invention is to so form the means for manually operating the slider that it does not increase the overall height of the slider. This is a highly desirable feature for many fastener applications, particularly for a corset or girdle fastener. A bulky slider, or one that is unduly thick, spoils the desired smooth contour of the corset or girdle.

To accomplish the foregoing general objects, and such other more specific objects as may hereinafter appear, my invention is directed to the slider and the component parts thereof, particularly with respect to the means for manually operating the slider, as described in the following specification taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of an automatic lock slider including one means of the present invention for manually operating the slider;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the slider showing the relationship of the said means to the slider and the locking member, with the latter in locking position;

Fig. 3 is a transverse cross-section taken approximately in the plane of the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the relationship of the parts when the locking member is moved to unlocked position by the slider operating means;

Fig. 5 is a view of the slider operating means prior to its attachment to the slider body;

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 3 but showing a modification;

Fig. 7 is a front elevational view of an automatic lock slider provided with another form of means for imparting movement to the slider;

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view of the slider of Fig. 7 showing the locking member in its locked position;

2,694,243 Patented Nov. 16, 195.4

Fig. 9 is. a transverse cross-section taken approximately in the plane of line 9-9 of Fig. 7;; 1

Fig. 10 shows still another form of the: invention, the slider in this case being either a non-lock or wing-lock slider; and e Fig. 11 is a transverse cross-section taken approximate.- lyin the plane of line 11-11 of Fig. 10.

The slider of the present invention is, preferably of the automatic-locking type, although the invention may be applied also to non-lock and wing-lock sliders. In all forms of the invention the slider comprises, generally, a slider body B provided with a projection P extending from a wing of the. slider body, and means M attached or secured to the projection P for imparting movement to the slider on the fastener elements.

The slider body B, whether for the automatic-lock slider, non-lock slider or wing-lock slider, may be of conventional construction. In the case of a non-lock or wing-lock slider, the projection P constitutes the. usual fixed lug as ordinarily formed to receive the common variety of pendant type of pull device. In thev case of an automatic-lock slider, such as disclosed in the pending patent application of Frederick Ulrich and. Claude Disinger, Serial No. 89,876, filed April 27,, 1949, or the Norton et al. Patent 1,966,457, granted July 17, 1934, the part of the locking member which is disposed over the lug may be considered the projection P. If desired, the locking slider may be made without any underlying lug, as disclosed in the patent to Frederick Ulrich and Claude Disinger, No. 2,523,740, granted September 26, 1950-, in which case again the projection P is a part of the locking member itself. One advantage of the invention is that no change need be made in the. construction of the slider itself, the new operating means M being mounted on an otherwise. conventional slider.

The slider shown in Figs. 1 to 4, is of the automaticlocking type, and is of the type. disclosed in detail in the aforementioned pending patent application of Frederick Ulrich and Claude Disinger, except for the novel means M for imparting movement to the slider. The slider body B comprises spaced top and bottom wings 10 and 12 joined by a neck or post 14. The top wing 10 is provided with inturned rails or flanges 16, and the bottom wing with inturned rails or flanges 18, which together' with the neck or post 14 form the usual Y-shaped channel. The top wing of the. slider is provided with a fixed lug 2.0 providedwith a pair of oppositely extending flanges 22 (Fig. 3). The projection P comprises the locking member 24 having a detent or detents 26 (Figs. 2 and 4:), said member being disposed over the ing 20. The wing 10 is provided with holes 28 (Fig. 3) on each side' of the'lug to permit the detents 26 to extend into the channel of the slider.

A spring or springs 30 (Figs. 2 and 4) urge the detents 2b of the locking member into the locking position shown in Fig. 2. The locking member is provided on each side thereof with camming surfaces 32. The slider is of a construction whereby the detents are normally slider is moved in the direction of the arrow A, the detents 26 will ratchet over the fastener elements. When it is desired to move the slider in an opposite direction, or direction F, it is necessary to positively lift the detents out of engagement from the fastener elements. This is accomplished by exerting a force against the camming surfaces 32.

One means M of the present invention for operating the slider is shown separately in Fig. 5. Flat metal of suitable thickness may be stamped to form a substantially yoke-shaped, button-like member having a pair of diverging arms 34' and 36 connected together by an arch portion 38. The inside edges of the arms 34 and 36 are each provided with oppositely extending propections 40 and 42, respectively. For convenience these may be referred to as trunnions, by analogy to an ordinary pivoted pull, but in the present case they merely slide, and do not rotate. The projections or trunnions 40 and 42 are each so located intermediate its arms length so that when the member M is secured to the projection P, clearance is'provided for the projection to extend upportion wardly from between the arms and the connecting arch 38. Also, portions 44 and 46 of the arms 34 and 36, respectively, extend lengthwise below the trunnions so that these portions will bear against the top wing of the slider body to prevent the member M from being pivoted outwardly about the trunnions. Thus the member M overlies the slider and is held flat against itf The outside edges of the arms 34 and 36 are provided with finger-grasping portions 48 and 50, respectively. These may be formed With serrations at the same time that the piece is stamped from the flat metal strip. As an alternative, the outside edges of the arms 34 and 36 may be knurled or otherwise roughened to provide suitable finger-gripping surfaces.

The member M, in the spread form shown in Fig. 5, is placed upon the top wing 10 of the slider body with the arms 34 and 36 straddling the locking member 24. The arms then are bent toward each other until the inside edges of the arms are substantially parallel. The trunnions 40 and 42 are received beneath the camming surfaces 32 of the locking member and under the outwardly extending flanges 22 of the lug 20. The trunnions 40 and 42 may be of the same dimensions as the runnions of an ordinary pendant type of pull device. It will be noted that the yoke-shaped member M is dimensioned so that the lower extremities thereof in a direction longitudinally of the slider are spaced inwardly or above the lower extremity of the slider body B. The arch portion 38 may extend a slight distance beyond the upper extremity or neck end of the slider body. In a transverse or width-wise direction, the outside edges of the member M, which constitute the fingergripping surfaces 44 and 46, preferably do not extend beyond the slider body. For convenience and simplicity, the member M may be considered to be substantially co-extensive with the adjoining wing of the slider, but this term is used in a general rather than exact sense, and the configurations obviously are diiferent.

As shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the thickness of the member M is substantially less than the height which the locking member or the projection P extends above the adjoining wing of the slider body. Thus, the member M does not increase or add to the thickness or bulk of the slider. As hereinbefore mentioned, the portions 44 and 46 below the trunnions 40 and 42 bear against the adjoining surface of the top wing 10 to prevent the member M from being rotated or arcuately swung about the trunnions, so that at no time will any portion of the member M extend beyond the height of the protruding of the locking member.

When it is desired to move the automatic lock slider in fastener-closing direction, or in the direction of the arrow A in Fig. 2, the serrated or roughened portions 48 and 50 are taken between the fingers and the member M pushed or pulled in such direction, whereupon the detents 26 of the locking member 24 will ratchet over the fastener elements B. When it is desired to move the slider in fastener-opening direction, or in the direction of the arrow, the portions 48 and 50 are grasped by the fingers and the member M pushed or pulled in that direction, whereupon the trunnions 40 and 42 will bear against the carnrning surfaces 32 to cause the detents 26 to be moved out of engagement from the fastener elements, as shown in Fig. 4, thereby permitting the slider to move in the desired direction.

A modification of the invention is shown in Fig. 6. All of the parts are exactly as hereinbefore described except that the member M is dished, or bent, so that thefinger-grasping portions 48 and 50 are raised from the previous position where they were in the same plane as the trunnions 40 and 42, and the remainder of the flat member VI. In dishing or bending the member, now designated M, to raise the finger-grasping portions 48 and 50, these finger-grasping portions are preferably raised no higher than the top extremity of the locking member 24. Thus the member M may be more easily grasped, without, however, increasing the overall height of the slider.

Another form of the invention is shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9. The slider body and locking member and their relationship to one another are the same as previously described, and hence are given the same reference numerals. Only the means for manually operating the slider, designated M, is of another form. Instead of serrating or otherwise roughening the outer edges, a pair of arms 52 and 54 are provided standing finger-grasping portions bent out of the plane of the main body portion of the member. The arms are connected by the arch portion 60. The flange-like portions 56 and 58, which are bent approximately out of the plane of the main body portion of the member are preferably concavely shaped as shown in Fig. 7 to facilitate the grasping of these portions by the fingers for movement along the fastener. The member M" is provided with trunnions 62 and 64, which function in the same manner as the trunnions previously described. As shown in Fig. 9, the upwardly bent finger-grasping portions 56 and 58 are preferably of a height which does not add to the existing height of the locking member or projection P above the slider with perpendicularly up- 56 and 58, respectively,

wing.

Figs. 10 and 11 show the invention applied to a nonlock or wing-lock slider. The top wing 66 of the slider body B is provided with a fixed lug 68 constituting the projection P. The lug is indented to provide outwardly extending flanges 70. The member M' may take the form of any one of the slider-operating means previously described, the one here shown being of the simple flat type shown in Figs. 1 to 5. The member M is provided with the oppositely inturned trunnions 76 and 78 which are received beneath the lug flanges 70 to thereby secure the member to the slider body. As shown, the width of the member l\ preferably does not exceed the widest portion of the slider body B. Also, in a direction lengthwise of the slider, the member M preferably is no longer than the slider body, so that in the position shown in Fig. 10 it does not project beyond the upper and lower ends of the slider body.

it is believed that my improvements in means for manually operating the slider of a slide fastener, as well as the advantages resulting from such improvements, will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description. Sliders are provided with simply formed button-like slider-operating members which are substantially co-extensive with the slider body, and which do not increase the overall height of the slider. They also do not appreciably change the length and width of the slider.

It will be apparent that while I have shown and described my invention in several preferred forms, changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as sought to be defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A slider for-slide fasteners comprising a slider body having a projection extending from a wing thereof, means for manually operating the slider comprising a substantially yoke-shaped member overlying the wing and having its arms straddling said projection, the inside of each of said arms being provided with an inturned trunnion located intermediate its length, said trunnions engaging an overlying abutment provided by said projection, the engagement of said trunnions with said abutment maintaining said yoke-shaped member substantially flat against said wing, said trunnions securing said member to the projection with the projection passing through the member, the outer edges of said arms being formed to provide finger-grasping portions shaped to facilitate movement in the direction of movement of the slider, said member being substantially coextensive with the adjoining wing of the slider body, and having an overall thickness less than the height of the projection extending from the wing.

2. A slider for slide fasteners comprising a slider body having a projection extending from a wing thereof, means for manually operating the slider comprising a substantially yoke-shaped member overlying the wing and having its arms straddling said projection, the inside of each of said arms being provided with an inturned trunnion located intermediate its length, said trunnions engaging an overlying abutment provided by said projection, the engagement of said trunnions with said abutment maintaining said yoke-shaped member substantially flat against said wing, said trunnions securing said member to the projection with the projection passing through the member, the outer edges of said arms being formed to provide finger-grasping portions shaped to facilitate movement in the direction of movement of the slider,

said member being substantially co-extensive with the adjoining wing of the slider body, and said yoke-shaped member being flat and having a uniform thickness less than the height of the projection extending from the wlng.

3. A slider for slide fasteners comprising a slider body having a projection extending from a wing thereof, means for manually operating the slider comprising a substantially yoke-shaped member overlying the wing and having its arms straddling said projection, the inside of each of said arms being provided with an inturned trunnion located intermediate its length, said trunnions engaging an overlying abutment provided by said projection, the engagement of said trunnions with said abutment maintaining said yoke-shaped member substantially flat against said wing, said trunnions securing said member to the projection with the projection passing through the member, the outer edges of said arms being formed to provide finger-grasping portions shaped to facilitate movement in the direction of movement of the slider, said member being substantially coextensive with the adjoining wing of the slider body, and having an overall thickness less than the height of the projection extending from the wing, and said arms being bent upwardly at their outer edges, thereby raising the finger-grasping portions above the plane of the trunnions.

4. A slider for slide fasteners comprising a slider body having a projection extending from a wing thereof, means for manually operating the slider comprising a substantially yoke-shaped member overlying the wing and having its arms straddling said projection, the inside of each of said arms being provided with an inturned trunnion located intermediate its length, said trunnions engaging an overlying abutment provided by said projection, the engagement of said trunnions with said abutment maintaining said yoke-shaped member substantially fiat against said wing, said trunnions securing said member to the projection with the projection passing through the member, the outer edges of said arms being formed to provide finger-grasping portions shaped to facilitate movement in the direction of movement of the slider, said member being substantially coextensive with the adjoining wing of the slider body, and having an overall thickness less than the height of the projection extending from the wing, and said finger-grasping portions being formed by the outer edges of the arms disposed substantially at right angles to the trunnions, said outer edges being concavely shaped to facilitate gripping by the fingers.

5. An automatic-lock slider for slide fasteners comprising a slider body having a locking member mounted thereon and having a part projecting from a wing thereof, means for manually operating the slider and unlocking the locking member comprising a substantially yoke-shaped member overlying the wing and having its arms straddling the projecting part of said locking member, the inside of each of said arms being provided with an inturned trunnion located intermediate its length, said trunnions engaging an overlying abutment provided by said projecting part, the engagement of said trunnions with said abutment maintaining said yoke-shaped member substantially flat against said wing, said trunnions securing said yoke-shaped member to said locking member with the projecting part of the locking member passing through the yoke-shaped member, said locking member being releasable by movement of the yokeshaped member in the direction of movement of the slider, the outer edges of said arms being formed to provide finger-grasping portions shaped to facilitate movement in the direction of movement of the slider, said yoke-shaped member being substantially coextensive with the adjoining wing of the slider body, and having an overall thickness less than the height of the projecting locking member.

6. An automatic-lock slider for slide fasteners comprising a slider body having a locking member mounted thereon and having a part projecting from a wing thereof, means for manually operating the slider and unlocking the locking member comprising a substantially yokeshaped member overlying the wing and having its arms straddling the projecting part of said locking member, the inside of each of said arms being provided with an inturned trunnion located intermediate its length, said trunnions engaging an overlying abutment provided by said projecting part, the engagement of said trunnions with said abutment maintaining said yoke-shaped member substantially flat against said wing, said trunnions securing said yoke-shaped member to said locking member with the projecting part of the locking member passing through the yoke-shaped member, said locking member being releasable by movement of the yoke-shaped member in the direction of movement of the slider, the outer edges of said arms being formed to provide fingergrasping portions shaped to facilitate movement in the direction of movement of the slider, said yoke-shaped member being substantially coextensive with the adjoining wing of the slider body, and said yoke-shaped member being flat and having a uniform thickness less than the height of the projecting locking member.

7. An automatic-lock slider for slide fasteners comprising a slider body having a locking member mounted thereon and having a part projecting from a wing thereof, means for manually operating the slider and unlocking the locking member comprising a substantially yokeshaped member overlying the wing and having its arms straddling the projecting part of said locking member, the inside of each of said arms being provided with an inturned trunnion located intermediate its length, said trunnions engaging an overlying abutment provided by said projecting part, the engagement of said trunnions with said abutment maintaining said yoke-shaped member substantially flat against said wing, said trunnions securing said yoke-shaped member to said locking member with the projecting part of the locking member passing through the yoke-shaped member, said locking member being releasable by movement of the yoke-shaped member in the direction of movement of the slider, the outer edges of said arms being formed to provide fingergrasping portions shaped to facilitate movement in the direction of movement of the slider, said yoke-shaped member being substantially coextensive with the adjoining wing of the slider body, and having an overall thickness less than the height of the projecting locking member, and said arms being bent upwardly at their outer edges, thereby raising the finger-grasping portions above the plane of the trunnions.

8. An automatic-lock slider for slide fasteners comprising a slider body having a locking member mounted thereon and having a part projecting from a wing thereof, means for manually operating the slider and unlocking the locking member comprising a substantially yokeshaped member overlying the wing and having its arms straddling the projecting part of said locking member, the inside of each of said arms being provided with an inturned trunnion located intermediate its length, said trunnions engaging an overlying abutment provided by said projecting part, the engagement of said trunnions with said abutment maintaining said yoke-shaped member substantially flat against said wing, said trunnions securing said yoke-shaped member to said locking member with the projecting part of the locking member passing through the yoke-shaped member, said locking member being releasable by movement of the yoke-shaped member in the direction of movement of the slider, the outer edges of said arms being formed to provide fingergrasping portions shaped to facilitate movement in the direction of movement of the slider, said yoke-shaped member being substantially coextensive with the adjoining wing of the slider body, and having an overall thickness less than the height of the projecting locking member, and said finger-grasping portions being formed by the outer edges of the arms disposed substantially at right angles to the trunnions, said outer edges being concavely shaped to facilitate gripping by the fingers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,966,457 Norton et al. July 17, 1934 2,083,919 Norton June 15, 1937 2,148,757 Kilkenny Feb. 28, 1939 2,232,756 Marcus Feb. 25, 1941 2,289,955 Berg July 14, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 190,602 Switzerland of 1937 582,481 Great Britain of 1946 

